Slagel, Clark lead boys, girls at PJO

Friday

Jul 26, 2013 at 12:58 AM

Pontiac Junior Open golf tournament champions

Erich Murphy

Lincoln Slagel won the Corn Belt Conference individual championship last fall as a junior at Prairie Central. On Thursday at Wolf Creek Golf Course, he garnered his first title as he heads into his senior season. Slagel led after each of the two days in capturing the boys' 16-18-year-old title of the Pontiac Junior Open. His 154 total was the low among all the players playing 36 holes. For the second time in three years, a young lady from the 14-15 age group grabbed low honors. Katie Clark struck gold with her 178 in winning her age group while scoring better than the 16-18-year-old players, as well. Slagel built a five-stroke lead after Day 1 of the 36-hole event that was also held at the Elks Club Golf Course Wednesday. All he had to do was shoot well enough to hold off Mike Edinger, Austin Drake and Adam Livezey. The quartet played the final round together. "I have been struggling but it shows I'm still capable of good rounds," Slagel said of winning. He shot a 74 at the Elks with a pair of 37s on his first two nine holes. Slagel ran into a little more difficulty Thursday, shooting a 41 on his first nine, which was the back nine at Wolf Creek. He had a string of four bogeys' in a row before closing out with two pars. He also parred the first three holes on the second nine. Still, Slagel had four bogeys and no birdies to come in with a 39 and a score of 80. "I made no birdie putts," Slagel said. "Yesterday I hit fairways and today I didn't." Meanwhile, Edinger and Drake were in a little of their own trying to not only close the gap on Slagel but also to beat each other. Both shot one stroke better than Slagel at Wolf Creek, but it was not nearly enough to really close the margin. Drake had one birdie on the first nine and cut three strokes off the margin but still trailed by four strokes. He also scored two strokes better than Edinger to move into a tie for second at the turn. Edinger returned the favor by outscoring Drake by two strokes in the second nine. Edinger admitted on the course to not having a solid round but he noted his was happy to shoot a second consecutive 79, making him the only player to break 80 in both rounds. Katie Clark will be a junior at Central Catholic and was able to play her two rounds with teammates. BCC head coach Mary Jo Bell saw four players play at the Pontiac tournament, an event she said she likes a lot because it gives her players an opportunity to know the courses. Despite it being her first tournament of the summer, Clark was able to duplicate the feat of U-High's Sarah Lyman two years ago by having the low score despite not playing in the oldest age group. "I wanted to come out strong for my first tournament of the summer," Clark said. "I think I shot better than I expected. I just really happy with it." Clark was consistent on Thursday with nines of 45 and 45 for a 90. She shot 42-46 on Day 1. Her 88 was one stroke better than Sarah Maddox, the leader of the 16-18 group. Clark's 178 was four strokes better than Maddox's group-winning total 182. "I've really worked hard, playing two rounds a week and trying to improve," Clark said. Samantha Bell, a daughter of the BCC coach, placed second in the group and longtime PJO entrant Brooke Flannelly was third. Final results of the entire tournament, including a look at the other age groups, will appear in Saturday's Daily Leader.